


Tea and Empathy

by merry_amelie



Series: Academic Arcadia [165]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-19
Updated: 2010-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-08 16:24:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4312152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merry_amelie/pseuds/merry_amelie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A visit from Violet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea and Empathy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sue_chose_this](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sue_chose_this/gifts).



> Feedback: Is treasured at merryamelie@aol.com (or leave a comment).
> 
> Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
> 
> For  
> My beta team: Nerowill, Emila-Wan, and Carol  
> Mali Wane for posting  
> My former betas: Alex, Ula, and Padawan Sue
> 
> Please read [Good Neighbors](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4312137) if you'd like to know more about Violet and Prudence.  
> 

Violet sat in the armchair across from her hosts, dressed up in her Sunday best, teacup perched in her hand. She'd just been lucky enough to have a complete tutorial on cell phones from two of Luke University's finest professors. She was suitably grateful, both for that and for their help back in May. They had saved her from being stranded on the neighborhood bike path, with no way to get home because of a sprained ankle.  
  
Now that they'd gotten the tutorial out of the way, Violet was looking forward to getting to know her new neighbors. Mrs. Chang, her bridge partner, had spoken of them highly, confirming her own stellar opinion of the men sitting on the couch in front of her.  
  
"Wonderful to see you up and about again," Quinn said warmly.  
  
"Oh, a little thing like a sprain couldn't keep me down." Violet sipped her tea. "I've been going to rehab, and now the ankle feels stronger than ever." Her only concession to the injury was wearing orthopedic soles for the next few months. She unconsciously flexed her left ankle while she spoke, her tan shoe nodding in agreement.  
  
Ian relaxed into Quinn's side. "We're so glad you came over to visit us."  
  
"It's my pleasure," she said, a keen look in her eyes. "Prudence is a dear friend of mine, but we have been known to disagree."  
  
'Very diplomatic,' Ian thought approvingly. Diplomat that he was himself, he offered Violet the tray of vanilla scones instead of a reply. Violet had made them that morning as a thank-you gift for her hosts, and she'd brought them over in a decorative tin, along with her homemade apricot jam, which was dotted on top of each one.  
  
They all ate their scones in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company. Polite munching and the clinking of china, a Masterson family heirloom given to the men as a fourth anniversary gift by Ginny, were the only sounds in the room.  
  
"These are just delicious, Violet," Ian said with enthusiasm.  
  
Violet grinned proudly. "Thank you kindly, young man. I ground the vanilla beans myself."  
  
"Nothing like the real thing," said Quinn, putting a third scone on his plate, much to Violet's delight.  
  
While leaning over to get another packet of sugar, Violet's eye was caught by a photograph of her hosts playing with Lelia in the backyard. "Oh, what a sweet little angel!" she exclaimed.  
  
Both men beamed at her, and Ian said, "Thank you, Violet. She's our wonderful niece, Lelia. We'd love for you to meet her soon. She and her parents visit us often."  
  
"I'd like that very much," Violet said, her voice warmer than the tea.  
  
"So what do you think of our little corner of the world so far?" Ian asked.  
  
"I love our neighborhood. I've met some nice people here." Violet smiled at them fondly.  
  
Quinn squeezed Ian's shoulder. "We've been here for four and a half years now, and it was the best move we've ever made."  
  
"I'm glad I've lived to see this modern world." Violet sipped her tea thoughtfully. "Just look at our very own block. It's like the United Nations, what with all the diversity."  
  
At Violet's reference to the U.N., Quinn shared a smile with Ian, remembering his lad's youthful aspirations.  
  
"Including, of course, who we love." She raised her teacup to them.  
  
Artoo came by, hoping to be petted, and Violet did not disappoint him. She put her cup down on the coffee table and scratched soft puppy ears. Artoo took that as an invitation to jump into her lap, where the petting was even better on her hammock-like skirt.  
  
"When I was young, discretion was everything. If a girl was expecting before marriage, she was sent away to live with her aunt and uncle for months, on a 'vacation', then came back to her family, as if nothing had happened." Violet chuckled at the absurdity of the cover-up. "If a woman got divorced, she'd live with her parents again, just as if she'd never been married." She snorted her disapproval of this prime example of patriarchy. "If the rare two men lived together, they were just 'cousins' sharing expenses."  
  
The men gazed at Violet, enthralled by her history lesson. They'd known all of this intellectually, but she had actually lived through these bad old times, since she was much older than their parents.  
  
"I can't see you two trying to pass as relatives, though." Violet gave Quinn's twinkle a run for the money. "You wouldn't have fooled anyone." She looked them up and down with amusement.  
  
"Too true," Ian said with a grin as he nudged Quinn's thigh with his own. "Thank goodness we live in a better world today."  
  
"Amen to that!" Violet said fervently. "While I was not personally affected by these hypocrisies, some of my friends were." Her brown eyes grew distant.  
  
Quinn reached over to pat Violet's hand. His empathy was as palpable as his physical touch. Artoo nuzzled into their fingers, then jumped off her lap so he could go and find Sandy.  
  
Violet drifted into a reverie, feeling as if she were back in 1948 Washington State for an incongruous moment. "What really opened my eyes was what happened to my best friend Madeline. A college classmate of ours named Samuel asked her to marry him, without so much as a kiss, or even a hug. Of course, in our little town this wasn't *that* uncommon. We didn't have the 'anything goes' attitude you see all the time nowadays." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "She turned him down gently. So I'll never know if he might've been gay, it was hidden so deep."  
  
While she was speaking, Violet unconsciously gripped Quinn's hand tight. She smiled at him gratefully. "We grew up in a more judgmental society. So you can see how people of a certain age have a hard time changing their minds."  
  
Both men nodded in understanding. Prudence was an unspoken presence in the room...  
  
...until Violet brought her into the conversation. "Prudence has been trying to convince me that you two are a sign of the end of civilization as we know it." She snorted once again.  
  
"We have been known to carry a mean lightsaber," Ian said lightly, despite the ache her words caused within him.  
  
Quinn caught his eye to give him an understanding smile as he made whooshing motions with his right arm, which Ian quickly parried, leaving all three of them laughing heartily, even Ian.  
  
"I can certainly see that you two are a formidable pair." Although Violet's comment was light-hearted, the men could feel the sincerity behind it. "At least Prudence surprised me when I told her I was coming over here anyway. She actually said that she understood why I'm so grateful to you."  
  
"Well, that's a start," said the ever-optimistic Ian.  
  
Violet nodded. "Yes, it is. Too bad she has so many years of bitterness ingrained in her."  
  
Quinn's voice was a soft rebuke of Prudence's world view. "It's been painful to research the lives of those who've come before us. Oscar Wilde, sentenced to years of hard labor for the 'crime' of loving Lord Alfred Douglas. Somerset Maugham, changing the pronouns of his characters, so that they'd pass for heterosexuals. E.M. Forster, unable to publish 'Maurice' during his lifetime."  
  
Violet was spellbound, just as the men had been before her, when she'd shared her personal history with them. She was awed by this private lesson from the formidable professor in front of her. "I'd love to take one of your courses, Professor," she said, admiration animating her voice.  
  
"And I'd love to have you." The warmth of Quinn's lilt was more soothing than the tea. "We've been teaching students of all ages, not just your typical undergrads, for quite a while now. Luke gets more and more older students every year."  
  
"I'll try to get Prudence to take a sociology class with me, too." Violet smiled into her teacup. 'She might just learn something,' she thought.  
  
"I have a friend in that department." Quinn got up to find a course catalogue in his office for her. "Here," he said, starring the class he had in mind. "I think you'll like Professor Sandford."  
  
Ian added, "Maybe you and Prudence would also like to sign up for the Elderhostel program on campus. It runs during Winter-session."  
  
Violet nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds right up our alley, young man." She chuckled. "It's never too late to learn something new."


End file.
